Flu season arrives two weeks early

There are growing signs that this flu season will be harder on
area residents than the last one was, state and regional health
officials say.

Tacey Derenzy, spokeswoman for the California Department of
Health Services, said Thursday that influenza has arrived about two
weeks earlier than it did during the winter of 2004-05, and as of
this week had spread through the southern, northern and central
parts of the state.

State laboratories have confirmed flu cases in 27 of
California's 58 counties, including Riverside and San Diego,
Derenzy said. For the second week in a row, San Diego led all
counties in reporting 168 of the state's 496 newly confirmed cases
this week. Far fewer cases have been confirmed in Riverside County,
but that hardly means the flu has taken a leave of absence.

"We are starting to see an increase in influenza activity," said
Barbara Cole, director of disease control for the Riverside County
Department of Public Health.

At clinics, doctor's offices and hospitals that the county
regularly monitors to track health trends, 5 percent to 14 percent
of people walking through the doors are reporting flu-like
symptoms, Cole said in an interview earlier this week.

Operators of Southwest County's two major hospitals say the
sharp uptick in flu was the driving force behind this week's
all-time record for emergency room visits the day after
Christmas.

"In fact, on Monday we had a record-breaking day," Fleege said.
"We saw a third more patients than we normally do between our two
emergency rooms. On any normal day, which is pretty busy, we see
200 patients. We saw 302 on Monday."

Those visits included 155 at Inland Valley and 147 at Rancho
Springs, she said, adding that one-third of the patients complained
of flulike symptoms.

"We're seeing it a little earlier this year than we did last
year, when we had a mild flu season," Fleege said. "Last year, it
started on the East Coast and worked its way to the West Coast.
This year, it is starting on the West Coast and is working its way
east."

In addition to having spread early through much of California,
the flu is widespread in Utah, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention report. Meanwhile, substantial numbers of cases have
been reported in Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Idaho, Nebraska and
Kansas.

Besides arriving early on the West Coast, flu is showing up
mostly in a strain of type A influenza virus, Derenzy said.

That is both good and bad.

"The A strain tends to be a little harsher than the B strain on
folks," Derenzy said, and so people could get sicker for longer
periods. On the other hand, this winter's vaccine is designed
specifically for a strain of A virus and those who receive flu
shots should be well protected, she said.